baumzaehlen - Primeval Forests & Their Trees

Rila Monastery Forest Reserve , Bulgaria

The reserve is a part of Rila Monastery Nature Park that is adjacent to Rila National Park (see Parangalitsa Strict Nature Reserve ). The reserve covers 37 km ² of which 9.5 km ² is virgin forest ¹ . It is located on south and north-facing steep to very steep slopes of the west-east orientated Rila Valley at elevations of 1100–2750 m. The valley bottom is not included, so the reserve is in two separate parts. Mean annual temperature is about 3–5.5°C and annual precipitation about 950–1050 mm ¹ . Granite is the most extensive base rock ¹ . Soil fertility is high ¹ .

At lower elevations, the most important tree species are Fagus sylvatica (European beech), Abies alba (European silver fir) and Picea abies (Norway spruce) on the north-facing slope and Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) on the south-facing slope. Towards the timberline, the forest is mostly composed by P. abies , Pinus peuce (Macedonian pine) and P. sylvestris . Above the timberline, there are Pinus mugo (dwarf mountain pine) thickets, which are not included in the figure of 9.5 km ² of virgin forest (see above). ¹

The reserve is difficult to visit. In addition to the steep slopes, few marked trails cross only short sections of the reserve.

References:

1 Popov, E. B. et al. (2005): Virgin Forests of Bulgaria. Royal Dutch Society for Nature Conservation Bulgarian Forest Research Institute.

Official site:

http://www.rilskimanastir.iag.bg/lang/1/index